Virtus
by Cornuthaum
Summary: 20 Truths - Duty, Courage, Justice and Temperance: People and how they live their virtues.


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Disclaimer II: I don't care if you only follow some obscure timeline of Naruto releases. I am mostly up-to-date on the manga scanlations and will freely use whatever kind of spoiler I want. You have been warned. Ignore this at your own peril.

Disclaimer III: As usual, I will blithely disregard anything from PTS unless I happen to like it. Canon whores, please leave, for I do not want the likes of you to read this or to comment on it.

**I. Duty**

1.) Uchiha Sasuke considers it his duty to avenge his family. When he sleeps, he sees them, standing before him, a silent host of black-haired, red-eyed kinsmen. Every time he wakes, he swears that he will kill his brother.

2.) Hyuuga Neji knows duty: First, to bring down the Main House in the name of his father. Second, protect Hyuuga Hinata. Only as he grows older does he accept that the second is as much a necessity as the first.

3.) Temari sends a small prayer her father's way every day. While she loathes the man for everything he has done to her and her brothers, it is the right thing to do and that is all the reason she needs.

4.) Uzumaki Naruto honors his fathers. The Third Hokage for being the biggest kick-ass old man, ever, and for providing protection and wisdom in his darkest hours. Jiraiya, for being an awesome travel companion and a big damn hero. The Fourth Hokage for at least having the sense to die after making sure his son would be miserable.

5.) The Third Hokage died in the line of duty. Fighting an opponent with a body crippled by old age and peace, he did what he had to in order to stop his prize student turned traitor. If only Orochimaru could have understood the importance of loyalty and trust.

**II. Courage**

1.) Jiraiya goes to fight his former teammate despite being poisoned to the point of uselessness at first. He does not fear death... no, Jiraiya only fears what will happen to his latest student and his beautiful lady if he fails.

2.) Umino Iruka becomes best friend/brother to Uzumaki Naruto despite casting himself into the shadow of the pariah that way. But after everything the boy said about and did for him, he cannot call himself a man and not do it. He never regretted it, either.

3.) Maito Gai casts his mighty shadow upon the wretched form of Rock Lee, and proves to all of Konoha that even the broken and powerless can become great under his tutelage. Now, if only he could get Kakashi to admit it, too...

4.) The hardest thing Haruno Sakura ever did in her life was throwing herself in the path of the most important boys in her life on the hospital rooftop. But she could not in good conscience let her Prince Charming and her Guardian fight each other any more.

5.) Nara Shikamaru risks getting cast out of his clan and permanent disbarment from active shinobi duty, for just one moment, when he throws his match with Temari. But he refuses to kill for sport, and when it turns out that this 'mature' decision (He does not fight that assessment at all. Mature, indeed.) gets him a promotion, all he does is smile and say "Just as planned."

**III. Justice**

1.) Uchiha Itachi finds it strangely comforting that it is his brother who ends up killing him. Itachi dies as he has lived - silent, mysterious and entirely unapologetic.

2.) After everything Uchiha Sasuke has done to hurt Konoha, Uzumaki Naruto is not in a forgiving mood when, after their last battle, he stands over the quivering, broken body of his foe. But he has sworn an oath, and so he heals his former friend and drags him back to the village.

3.) One day, Hyuuga Hinata asks Neji why he is doing it. Why he is protecting her now. She asks as they stand before the slowly burning remains of the Konoha Embassy in the Fire Country capital, surrounded by their dead and dying enemies. His answer is as simple as it is final: "He told me to stop being selfish and do my duty."

She does not have to ask who 'he' is.

4.) The Fourth Kazekage deserved what he got. Totally. Everyone agrees on this. They just wish Orochimaru would have had the sense to allow his son to do the deed.

5.) Morino Ibiki wouldn't know what justice was if it came to life and hit him. He lost any willingness to even contemplate that concept when his scalp was burned and his face was shredded. It is this ability/defect that makes him such a frightfully efficient torturer.

**IV. Temperance**

1.) Akimichi Chouji does not overeat. Those who know little of his fighting style might call him fat. Those who know something of his fighting style might call him well-fed. In the eyes of his clan, he is critically underweight.

2.) Rock Lee spends not a single moment of his days with idle pursuits. He is always working at bettering himself and is rightfully proud of this. Now, if only he could convince his heart that acting like fool around Haruno Sakura is part of what he calls "idle pursuits"...

3.) Jiraiya knows he should exercise moderation, but just once he admits to himself that he cannot be the perfect man. He has Been There, he has Done That, and for any one man to bear it all is too much. His excesses - in drink and flesh - are the result of that struggle - the struggle not to forget what he has seen and done.

4.) Aburame Shino could kill everyone he meets within ten minutes. The greatest sign of his self-control is that he doesn't.

5.) Shizune is delighted to discover that, as the Hokage of Konoha, Tsunade is no longer madly gambling away whatever money she can lay her hands on. However, she does not realize that this isn't because her mentor has grown responsible. No, Tsunade simply doesn't have the time to troll the gambling houses of Fire Country any more.


End file.
